Writing in "The Tyee", experienced political reporter Barbara McLintock broke the story on the Campbell government's plan to decriminalize drunk driving. Subsequently, Solicitor General Rich Coleman denied that he would proceed with legislation, or at least he said that chances are they won't proceed. When asked by guest host Shiral Tobin on the Rafe Mair show why it took McLintock to break the story, Coleman said that the paper had been out there and available on a government website since June. He added that consultation ended in December and feedback was now being considered. Isn't it convenient that they stopped listening before the general public was made aware of the issue?

A search on the government website shows that no news release was put out by the Solicitor General or anyone else when his discussion paper was supposedly made available in June. That kind of consultation by stealth is not new to the Campbell government. In July 2003 the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management issued a 27 page paper titled "Proposed Water Rental Rates" (see http://srmwww.gov.bc.ca/clrg/plab/water_rates.pdf). No news release on the topic can be found with a search on the government website, although 54 news releases were issued involving the topic of water between June and October, 2003. The paper is buried in an obscure section of the website, Corporate Land and Resource Governance, for the Ministry of Sustainable Resource Development. Management of the province's water resources is in the hands of a new crown corporation, Land and Water British Columbia Inc., which also occasionally issues news releases but did not do so on the water rate paper. The paper called for water rental rates to be increased by as much as 500%!

The government has no trouble issuing news releases with misleading headlines to make it look like good news, and it even puts out some bad news that cannot escape public attention, usually on Friday afternoons. There is no excuse for hiding consultation papers deep in the maze of government websites with no accompanying news release. Unless an interested party or concerned citizen brings the issue to the attention of the general public, or unless a reporter like McLintock finds the discussion paper, the Campbell government stops listening before the general public knows what's happening. No one would describe that as being open or honest.